VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has said that with the mandated floor mark of 15 on entrance exams, there would be enough students for junior colleges and universities. But junior colleges are pessimistic about their enrolment plans.

Students begin applying for junior colleges (3-year training) and universities (4-5 year training) on August 1.

Nguyen Quang Hau, principal of the Phu Tho Economics & Technique Junior College, said no student had applied at the school.

“The quota is big, while there are no students,” Hau said.

In previous years, students registered to study at specified schools and attended the entrance exams to the schools. 

But this year, they attend the national exam first and then apply for schools after they are informed about their exam results. Therefore, educators cannot predict how many students will enroll in their schools.

Hau admitted that he was not sure if he can find enough students this year. What worries him most is that students will go to universities instead of junior colleges, because they only need to have an average of 6.5 score on every exam subject to be eligible to apply to universities.

Tran Kim Phuong, chair of ASEAN Junior College, confirmed that with the easy requirements, students would rather follow university education than go to junior college.

MOET has decided that a 15 mark will be the floor mark for this year. This means that the students who get at least a 15 mark from three exam subjects at last July’s national exam will be eligible for applying for universities.

“We will plan to start September 4, but we don’t think we would have many students,” Phuong said.

Bui Tat Hieu, head of the training division of the Hanoi Tourism Junior College, told the press that the school planned to enroll 2,450 students this year.

“Universities will pick up the majority of students, therefore, it would be difficult for junior colleges to enroll students in 2015,” he said.

“We will still begin the new academic year as initially planned, though we still don’t know how many students we can enroll,” he said.

Tran Huu The, head of the Hanoi Technology & Trade College’s training division said in previous years students preferred studying at universities if their scores were high enough to apply for both university and junior college.

Many universities have set their required marks equal to the floor mark. These include the stated-owned Hanoi Trade Union University and Hanoi Water Resources University. 

Meanwhile, analysts said the majority of people-founded universities would require students to have a 15 score only to enroll.

Ngan Anh